Nonfiction Reviews: Week of 4/28/2008

The anonymous restaurant professional behind the Bloggie Award–winning WaiterRant.net expands on his postings in his first book. The result is an enjoyable if utterly unromantic personal exposé on the inner workings of the New York City–area restaurants that have employed him since 1999. To his first job, the Waiter brought abandoned dreams and ambitions for a religious vocation, an eventual psychology degree and employment experiences in a drug-rehabilitation center. That history proved useful in professional service, particularly a restaurant that, with its corrupt manager and dictatorial boss and despite its upmarket setting, clientele and business volume, was an example of the very worst in the industry. The narrative hangs on the author's professional development from restaurant newbie to jaded industry-spokesperson; he makes ample room for extended riffs on manners, money, morals and even meals. He catalogues the grime-and-gross-out factors (some obscene), so comparisons to Kitchen Confidential are inevitable. (Aug.)

Three-time Tony Award–winning composer Strouse is best known for the musical Annie and his All in the Family theme, “Those Were the Days.” While “wary of the ghosts that appear,” he summons up memories of a career that spans decades, beginning with his Manhattan boyhood, study at Rochester's Eastman School of Music, touring the South with Butterfly McQueen and early collaborations with lyricist Lee Adams. His 1950s pianist gigs ran the gamut from strip clubs to musical theater classes at the Actors Studio: “Typically, I would have accompanied Kevin McCarthy and Marilyn Monroe in a scene from Oklahoma!” After his 1960 smash hit Bye Bye Birdie, there were plenty of happy faces and more long runs. Although he covers his film scores and music for TV commercials, the book's best chapters center on the staging struggles of Annie and Applause, plus breaking racial barriers with Sammy Davis Jr. in Golden Boy. Many songs are cited, but the lack of lyrics is disappointing, Strouse instead regales with fascinating, sometimes surprising, anecdotes, such as Mike Nichols, clad in a new camel-hair coat, skidding about in his own vomit at an airport. Detailing desperate rewrites, insecurities of theater people, footlight failures and humiliations, as well as theatrical triumphs, Strouse's superb backstage memoir deserves a standing ovation. 16-page b&w insert. (July)

“I was born into the crack that split America,” Ian writes, and her early immersion in the folk music scene of the 1960s helped shape her prodigious songwriting talents while she was still in her teens. The autobiography shares a title with her first hit, a song about a doomed interracial romance that was considered too controversial for many record labels and radio stations. The pressures of the music industry and her troubled family life drove Ian to a nervous breakdown at the age of 19. It was in the following long period of recovery that she wrote her most famous song, “At Seventeen.” (“I'd never sing it in public,” she says of her initial feelings about the song. “It was just too humiliating.”) Soon after reaching that recording peak, her life was derailed by a series of troubles ranging from an abusive marriage (to a man she first met because she was in love with his girlfriend) to massive tax liabilities to bouts with septicemia and chronic fatigue syndrome. The roller-coaster ride may be typical stuff for celebrity autobiography, but fans will appreciate the candor with which Ian discusses these hardships and her gradual path to happiness as an independent singer-songwriter in Nashville. (July)

Engel (Healing Your Emotional Self), a psychotherapist and domestic violence expert, has sharp words for the “nice girls” of the world who care more about being perceived as sweet and pleasant than strong and self-protective. Drop the phoniness and passivity, she exhorts, arguing that while society superficially rewards nice girls, they suffer deeply in their intimate and work relationships by losing personal power and parading inauthentic selves. Avoiding conflict and playing naïve may seem to offer payoffs, Engel notes, but the payoffs aren't as big as the price women pay for not holding their ground—“They may get taken care of but they aren't respected. They may get special attention but from the wrong kind of people.” Readers will find Engel's elucidation of the four causes of “Nice Girl Syndrome” and the “Seven Types of Nice Girls” (i.e., Doormat, Pretender, Prude, Enlightened One) deeply funny and familiar. Most useful for its thorough treatment for how “nice girls” are socialized and for Engel's concise antidote (the four “Power C's”: confidence, competence, conviction and courage) this book will challenge, entertain and empower its readers. (July)

What if individuals could harness the power of branding to improve their lives? Wilson and Blumenthal expound on the rewards of identifying and reinforcing a consistent individual brand in this pragmatic self-help book, which offers readers a step-by-step guide to personal and professional exploration and development. The authors highlight those corporate juggernauts (Starbucks, Coca-Cola, Burger King) and public figures (Oprah Winfrey, Tiger Woods, Walt Disney—and surprisingly—Mahatma Gandhi) that have used conscious branding to catapult them to success. Subsequent chapters offer straightforward assessment exercises to help readers identify their strengths and key attributes, develop a strategy for “repositioning” or reinforcing “brand essence,” and align their behaviors with their brands. While equating commercial marketing techniques to personal development may initially strike readers as disingenuous or calculating, the authors emphasize that “brand positioning is meant to bring out the best in you, not to set in motion a promotional campaign based on false image.” The true message of this widely appealing book is about being true to yourself and then intentionally and dependably projecting that authentic package to the world. (July)

Winters's provocative foray into the Democratic Party's estrangement from Catholics—their erstwhile stable constituency—contends that Democrats made a fatal mistake by embracing the New Left in the late 1960s and 1970s, prioritizing abortion and gay rights at the expense of their religious supporters. In painstaking detail, the book shows how the party methodically alienated Catholic voters, from Roe v. Wade to their opposition to the religious right's moralistic vision for America. It's not a new thesis, but Winters is sympathetic to his subject and has a sincere understanding of Catholic voters' priorities. He delves into the forgotten history of Catholic liberalism, and his portrayal of Franklin Roosevelt's wooing of religious voters to broaden his coalition is particularly insightful. Not everyone will be convinced by his prescriptions for the Democrats, which involve abandoning their cherished prochoice ideas and injecting more religious themes into rhetoric, but the book is well written and contains an understanding of contemporary electoral politics that even its detractors will have to reckon with. (July 7)

Middle East scholars Dalin (The Myth of Hitler's Pope) and Rothmann collaborate in this harrowing account of Haj Amin al-Husseini, the British-appointed Mufti of Jerusalem and the political and spiritual head of the Palestinian Arab community from the 1920s on, who helped seal a powerful bond between Islamic radicals and Nazi officials. A longtime admirer of National Socialism and personal friend of Himmler and Eichmann, al-Husseini championed the Final Solution, made propaganda broadcasts to the Middle East, encouraged Muslim participation in the Waffen SS and called for exterminating Palestine's Jewish population. His advocacy of a holy war against Jews and their British supporters culminated in the massive Arab Revolt of 1937. Escaping to Egypt as the Third Reich collapsed, al-Husseini found his hopes for an “All-Palestine government” frustrated; however, the Islamization of anti-Semitism proved to be his enduring legacy—he imported and localized Nazi slogans and counted among his acolytes his cousin, the young Yasser Arafat. The authors draw persuasive links between al-Husseini and current contemporary events—notably the execution of journalist Daniel Pearl—giving this history a haunting relevance. (July 1)

Edgar-winner Dolnick (The Rescue Artist) delves into the extraordinary story of Han van Meegeren (1889–1947), who made a fortune in German-occupied Holland by forging paintings of the 17th-century Dutch painter Vermeer. The discovery of a “new” Vermeer was just what the beleaguered Dutch needed to lift their spirits, and van Meegeren's Christ at Emmaus had already been bought by the Boymans Museum in Rotterdam in 1937 for $2.6 million. Collectors, critics and the public were blind to the clumsiness of this work and five other “Vermeers” done by van Meegeren. Dolnick asks how everyone could have been fooled, and he answers with a fascinating analysis of the forger's technique and a perceptive discussion of van Meegeren's genius at manipulating people. Van Meegeren was unmasked in 1945 by one of his clients, Hermann Goering. Later accused of treason for collaboration, he saved himself from execution and even became a hero for having swindled Goering. Dolnick's compelling look at how a forger worked his magic leads to one sad conclusion: there will always be eager victims waiting to be duped. Illus. not seen by PW. (June 24)

Spoiler alert: the answer to the title's question is that “[a]ntiquities are the cultural property of all humankind... and not that of a particular modern nation.” Cuno (Whose Muse?) is the director of the Art Institute of Chicago, so his position, which favors museums over governments, is not a surprise. But it would be a mistake to see this deeply felt and carefully reasoned argument as self-serving. The crux of his argument is that modern nation-states have at best a tenuous connection with the ancient cultures in question, and their interests are political rather than scientific. China, for example, asserts ownership of ancient treasures of a wide range of ethnic minorities whose identity as “Chinese” is problematic at best. Cuno advocates instead a universal, humanistic approach to the world's shared cultural treasures. How could this be achieved? Cuno's proposals for enforcing such a policy are unlikely to make any national government shake in its boots. But however quixotic, Cuno's pleas for a more expansive approach to cultural artifacts must be taken seriously. Photos. (June)

Pale, pallid, wan: when we say that someone looks anemic, the implication is less about iron-poor blood than about the presence of some underlying illness. Launching Bellevue's Pathography series, Bardes (associate dean at Weill Cornell Medical College) examines how anemia and other diseases of the blood have been perceived and understood in various places and times. Anemia (“without blood”) is a deficiency in hemoglobin, the molecule within red blood cells that shuttles oxygen around the body. But, Bardes asks, what constitutes a deficiency? How does a doctor interpret whether the patient is “really sick”? The author traces the concept of ruddiness and its association with health through the centuries and devotes an especially interesting chapter to the mysterious “green sickness,” which, though well known in Shakespeare's time, seems to have disappeared by the early 20th century. Bardes casts a wide net over science, literature and philosophy in this marvelously literate study, although occasional extended flights of word play might have been reined in a bit. Readers with a passion for multidisciplinary and well-crafted writing will find pleasure here. (June)

In this first nonfiction volume of Akashic's popular Noir Series, Brooklyn's bloody laundry gets a very public airing. Editors McLoughlin (Brooklyn Noir anthologies 1 and 2), and Edgar-winning novelist Adcock compile true crime tales from the borough's near and distant past. From a senseless murder over a bicycle in Prospect Park in Constance Casey's “A Spring Afternoon in the Meadow, That 'Long, Loud Scream' ” to the Russian mob violence of Fort Greene in Patricia Mulcahy's “The Body in the Doorway,” the anthology takes readers on a tour of some of Brooklyn's deadliest spots. Though several entries drag on too long, standouts such as Reed Farrel Coleman's Coney Island coming-of-age story “No Roses for Bubbeh” and New York Post crime reporter C.J. Sullivan's engrossing look at Son of Sam in “The Brooklyn Bogeyman” more than make up for any slow spots. Fans of Akashic's earlier collections will appreciate this reminder that truth is often more disturbing than fiction. (June)

In this nostalgic love song, Eliot (Walt Disney) blends voices of politicos, actors, musicians, writers and business people—strangely, mostly male—to extol the newly hip New York City borough of Brooklyn. “Mama's boy” Neil Sedaka remembers Coney Island in the 1950s as a cozy place. After a decline, the area is being revitalized, with a battle brewing over new development. Spike Lee says that seeing Jackie Robinson play at Ebbets Field was one of the greatest thrills of his life, while contrarian Woody Allen recalls being a Giants fan in the heart of Dodgers territory. Walt Whitman, Arthur Miller and Norman Mailer often wrote about their home turf of Brooklyn, yet contemporary novelist Amy Sohn, a native of Brooklyn Heights, thinks that while there's “kinmanship” among Brooklyn writers today, they are part of the city's larger literary world. Organizing his material by neighborhoods and themes (e.g., music, food), Eliot's done his homework with many original interviews and lists of famous Brooklynites, and the material is diverting, but the work is unfocused and begs to be published as a coffee-table book with lots of photos. (June 10)

With the end of the Cold War, a drastically downsized nuclear weapons establishment has suffered an antiapocalypse—missile silos abandoned and crumbling, shell-shocked industry survivors bereft of a reason to go on. In this adventure in “nuclear tourism,” the husband-and-wife authors, both defense journalists, poke through the rubble for signs of life. Their itinerary includes deserted test sites in Nevada and Kazakhstan; a West Virginia hotel whose basement conceals a blast-proof bunker once intended to house Congress; an Iranian uranium-processing facility; and an active missile-launch site in Wyoming. They interview weapon scientists and generals to understand why aging nuclear arsenals are retained and revamped without a rival superpower, and uncover a gamut of rationales: national paranoia in Russia, at the Pentagon mystifying world-is-flat globalization theory. Framing this inquiry as a travelogue is a bit gimmicky: nuclear installations are functional, drab and unevocative, so for color the authors often fall back on Borat-esque culture-clash comedy or the absurdist security rigmaroles they endure. But they do convey an acute sense of the incoherence of latter-day nuclear strategizing. (June)

Harvey (The Island of Lost Maps) embarks on a fascinating exploration of the obscure life and violent times of Jacques Le Moyne de Morgues, who arrived in America in 1564, almost half a century before the English at Jamestown. The drawings he left, virtually forgotten until a few years ago, when they began fetching towering prices at Sotheby's, depict in almost photographic detail a now extinct Native American world. Harvey, his curiosity sparked during a visit to Jacksonville, Fla.—near the site of Le Moyne's doomed colony of French Protestants—uncovered “a tale replete with shipwrecks, mutinies, religious wars, political intrigues, pirate raids, Indian attacks, famines, hurricanes, and mass murders.” This book doubles as a narrative of Harvey's own expedition to discover more about his subject and the story of Le Moyne's works in the centuries after his death—and their sad fate at the hands of a New York antiquities dealer. Harvey's volume hits the sweet spot for both adventure buffs and history fans. 4 pages of color illus., b&w illus. throughout. (June 24)

If misery loves company, devotees of the late Princess Diana may be happy to learn that, like Prince Charles, King George I ignored his luscious wife and first cousin, Sophia Dorothea, for not one but two hideous mistresses, one of whom may have been his half-sister. Camilla, duchess of Cornwallis, had a great-grandmother, Alice Keppel, who was the mistress of Charles's great-great-grandfather Edward VII; a hysterical Alice had to be dragged away from her comatose lover's deathbed and wore full mourning to his funeral. After his wife, Eleanor of Aquitaine, bore him eight children, Henry II openly cavorted with his 16-year-old Welsh mistress, Rosamund, but the highly political Eleanor got revenge by inciting their sons to rebel against Henry and possibly poisoning Rosamund. The narrowness of Carroll's subject matter (she writes historical fiction as Amanda Elyot) is more tiresome than titillating, and her tales of such favorites as Anne Boleyn, Robert Dudley, the Earl of Essex and Wallis Simpson are less than fresh. (June 3)

London in the mid-17th century remained a medieval city. The civil war, a plague that claimed 100,000 lives and the Great Fire of 1666 would have been sufficient to send it back to the Dark Ages. Instead, London was transformed into a modern metropolis. A history of such a city during that most tumultuous of centuries is a massive undertaking, but in his first book, Hollis controls the narrative by focusing on the five figures who best represent the spirit of the age. John Locke, the philosopher, outlined a daring theory of universal natural rights; social observer John Evelyn grappled with the specific meaning of Englishness; real estate developer and speculator Nicholas Barbon rebuilt the center of London (with designs by the scientific polymath Robert Hooke); and lastly, Christopher Wren, who created St. Paul's Cathedral, eternal symbol of the glittering city. Hollis admirably succeeds in explaining the complex issues and events of the time, though he tends to assume his readers have intimate knowledge of London geography. Even so, his book presents an engrossing and perceptive take on the birth of one of the world's great cities. 16 pages of b&w photos and photos throughout. (June)

William Wilberforce was a key figure in Adam Hochschild's 2005 Bury the Chains. Now the British antislavery campaigner gets his own well-deserved biography in this clearly written, sympathetic work by Hague (William Pitt the Younger), a member of Britain's shadow cabinet. A longtime legislator and close associate of William Pitt the Younger, Wilberforce (1759–1833) became convinced of the righteousness of abolition after becoming an evangelical Christian in 1785. Hague devotes some attention to Wilberforce's personal life, but devotes the lion's share of his book to his subject's political activity. A noted speaker, Wilberforce was also amiable and a dogged negotiator, traits that served him well during his decades-long effort. His campaign paid off twice, first in 1807, when Britain abolished the slave trade, and then, just months before his death in 1833, with the abolition of slavery. Hague provides plenty of historical context about Britain's involvement in the slave trade and British domestic affairs, making this rewarding reading for those interested in the history of Britain as well as the history of the battle for equality and justice. 24 pages of b&w photos. (June)

Journalist Koerner recounts an obscure 1944 murder whose story is linked to the building of the Ledo Road, a massive and ultimately useless American project that linked India to Chinese forces. Most African-American soldiers spent WWII doing menial jobs. One man, Herman Perry, was shipped to northeast India to work on the Ledo Road. The labor was backbreaking; with rudimentary living conditions and no access to most recreation facilities, blacks had few pleasures besides drugs. Psychologically fragile, Perry had already been jailed for disobedience when he wandered off, carrying a rifle. When a white lieutenant grabbed it, Perry shot him and ran into the jungle, eventually reaching a village of Naga tribesmen. Pleased by gifts of canned food, they allowed him to stay, and he reinforced this welcome by stealing from the builders' camp only six miles away. He married a local woman, but after three months, word of his presence filtered out; he was captured by Americans, tried and hung. Koerner's engrossing story illuminates one of WWII's fiascos as well as the disgraceful treatment of black soldiers during that era. Photos. (June 2)

Two years ago, novelist Banks was interviewed by French television for a documentary about American history. His testimony so impressed Banks's French publisher that he made a book out of his remarks, translated into French, co-released with the documentary. Now Banks's words have returned stateside. Unfortunately, they do not travel well. Letting a gifted storyteller like Banks have a go at telling the story of America isn't a bad idea—his voice is appealing, and the brevity and scope of his tale are bracing. As condensed histories go, this is a good one. Banks creates a clear and simple dynamic, identifying three original dreams—for profit, for religious freedom, for eternal youth—that have struggled within our body politic throughout our history. His text, however, betrays a dogmatic agenda—left of center, antiwar and self-righteous—undermining the simplicity that might otherwise be a virtue. Fuzzy generalizations like “Americans have always believed in the almost spiritual beauty of machinery” give way to harsh indictments of presidents Wilson, Reagan and the Bushes, as the charming historical survey turns shrill (“Rockefeller didn't believe in the American dream, but everyone who worked for him did”). Banks is eloquent here, but in a sense perhaps unintended, he's dreaming. (June)

Harvard law professor Tushnet is a rigorous scholar, able to explain creative and often provocative constitutional theory in accessible language. He argues that, often, it is not the Supreme Court's majority opinion that prevails in the long run but that of the dissenters. To explain why this is true, Tushnet draws on the intriguing theory of “popular constitutionalism”—the idea that the long-term contours of constitutional law are determined not by the Supreme Court but by a popular consensus that emerges from the interaction of evolving conceptions of morality, legislative power, economic necessity and politics. And, Tushnet says, the high court's “great dissenters” are those—such as Oliver Wendell Holmes and William O. Douglas—who anticipate the future consensus. In looking at dissents dealing with civil rights, school desegregation and the reach of government into consensual private conduct, Tushnet examines this process and the pitfalls that face justices trying to predict the future. Tushnet offers no small thing: a different way to think about the role of the Supreme Court in American life. (June)

Sirota (Hostile Takeover) chronicles how ordinary citizens on the right and the left are marshaling their frustrations with the government into uprisings across the country and analyzes the effectiveness and longevity of their efforts. Citing developments as disparate as progressive political victories in the Montana state senate and the rise of the California Minutemen militia, the author weaves entertaining case studies, keeping his tone conversational, the narrative fast-paced and the content accessible. Sirota hits numerous high notes, including a fine elucidation of continuing Democratic support for the Iraq War, a breakdown of the “echo chamber” qualities of beltway television shows like Hardball and salient observations of how and why the Democratic Party severed ties with the liberal uprising of the '60s era. According to Sirota, “The activism and energy frothing today is disconnected and atomized. The only commonality between it all is rage.” It remains to be seen whether this rage will snowball into something large enough to upset entrenched political systems, but for the time being, this book presents a rousing account of the local uprisings already in effect. (June)

In this blistering exposé, former World Bank employee Berkman demonstrates how the World Bank's mission to “alleviate poverty” has been derailed by corruption, a “bloated bureaucracy” and mismanagement. According to Berkman “the Bank pretends it is lending for noble purposes, while the borrowers pretend they will put the money to good use. This relationship serves both parties well, as Bank staff further their careers and government officials fill their personal bank accounts.” The author argues that the donor community must “drastically reduce its obsession with needless intellectual activities” and “lend less and supervise more” to ensure that loans directly reach the poor rather than corrupt officials. His criticisms and prescriptions are clear and well-supported by scores of photocopies of internal memos and project documents—unfortunately, the abundance of detail occasionally hampers the solid analysis, and readers might find Berkman's tone—which frequently borders on the sarcastic—jarring. Still, the book is a fascinating firsthand account of the bank's failures, and its case studies—notably sections on bank projects in Nigeria and the Gambia—make for a valuable and important read. (June)

Political scientist Lowndes breaks fresh ground in this history of contemporary conservatism, refuting the backlash thesis, which holds that Southern voters turned to the Republican Party after the Democrats embraced a civil rights platform. The author reveals how the backlash was anything but reactionary—it was the result of long-running mobilizing strategies by conservatives who made successful appeals to white voters and divergent elements in Southern politics: “the bourbon politics of the black belt regions... the complex tradition of southern populism; and the political aspirations of the emergent metropolitan bourgeoisie.” The book highlights the largely unknown Charles Wallace Collins, who first aligned segregationists and conservatives and provided the philosophical underpinnings for the states' rights movement. Well-researched and readable sections detail the crucial role of the staunchly anti–civil rights National Review and how Southern conservatism was variously interpreted and shaped by its progenitors and champions from George Wallace to Richard Nixon. While Lowndes loses focus in an irrelevant profile of radio commentator and Klan member Asa Carter, his book is a valuable contribution to the study of contemporary conservatism. (June)

Political scientist Boyd's account of the redevelopment of Douglass and Grand Boulevards in Chicago's Bronzeville into a cultural space is a vivid illustration of how, in certain instances, “remaking place depends on remaking race.” The book charts the development of racial nostalgia (“a yearning for and celebration of black life during the period of legalized racial segregation” that overlooks “the more brutal aspects of racial segregation”) in Bronzeville and how, throughout the area's history, the black elite “constructed Jim Crow racial identity as they pursued their political preferences, and in ways that framed those preferences as intrinsic to blackness.” Boyd recounts the interracial and intraracial class conflicts and compromises as poor and middle-class blacks struggled to define and control their community within a more politically and economically powerful white milieu. Boyd's work is heavily statistical but enlivened with the voices of neighborhood residents and organizers, and while she assiduously defines her terminology, this is a book for the academic specialist. Students of contemporary African-American history and sociology, as well as those with a special interest in Chicago politics, will find her work a useful resource. (June)

What happens when curiosity about Central Park fauna trumps fear of the dark? The charm of Winn's wildlife accounts—besides its descriptions of the nighttime habits of New York City screech owls, bats and slugs—is its depiction of the community of fans who gather to observe and document even the slightest movements of the park's shyest denizens. Winn (Red-Tails in Love) is part of an informal group of bird-watchers who turn to the study of nocturnal species; using a black light and a sheet, they track moths, observe slugs having sex and search out the “boy's dormitory” of robins. Winn's riveting account of the last stage of cicada metamorphosis highlights the animating philosophy of these after-dark naturalists: “sharing our adventures increase[s] our own enjoyment of them.” A surprising amount of science (owl-pellet dissection; official names for the stages of twilight) is packed into these narratives, illuminating the somewhat arbitrary line between enthusiast and expert, but never bogging down the reader. Winn's style is as conversational as a good friend's and as informative as a seasoned guide's. (June 10)

Separating the hype from the hope, Dumaine surveys the growing “green economy” born out of the unlikely partnership between investors, entrepreneurs and environmentalists and assesses the fruits of this collaboration. According to the author, “green technology” will be the largest, most lucrative industry of the future—a fact uniting the usually antagonistic forces of economic growth and ecological preservation as big business has entered the search for “tomorrow's oil substitute, the lifeblood of prosperity—but without the carbon.” Well-reasoned discussions of how corporations are becoming part of the solution yield surprising news about Wal-Mart's ties with the Environmental Defense Fund, Duke Energy's Save A Watt program and General Electric's Ecomagination campaign, which requires all division heads to find ways to “green” the technologies they develop and sell. From technological innovations to the growing investments in eco-friendly startups, Dumaine sorts through the fact and fiction, bringing an informed and optimistic perspective to the revolution underway. (June)

In this salty satire of a business guide, Bing (What Would Machiavelli Do?) invites “anyone with a job and a desire to shirk it” into his program of retiring while still on the job. “I'm scared to retire. That way lies senescence, superfluity, and too much thought about fiber. Not to mention, you know, Death,” he writes, and he isn't a mite too enamored with the drudgery of the working life. Bing's solution is to live like a CEO while a mere drone, and his slacker's guide dispenses pithy advice on the arts of delegation, abuse of status, napping on the job and the all-important acquisition of a career-building table at important restaurants. And why work excruciatingly long hours when you can fake job devotion through the clever manipulation of your handy BlackBerry? Though the tone turns from gently mocking to earnestly didactic by the end, the book makes a great gift for the legions of would-be retirees and provides laughter and relief from the anxieties of corporate culture. (June)

In this memoir of her open marriage, Block recounts how she leapt off the “Disney monorail of monogamous marriage” to pursue her own version of “happily ever after.” The author chronicles her growing awareness of the “social conditioning” that, according to her, defines marriage as the exclusive province of sex and intimacy. She writes movingly of how her perfect marriage unraveled due to her husband's low libido and how she and her husband negotiated a nonmonogamous partnership that saved their marriage. While Block is unstintingly honest in her depictions of an open marriage's sexual and emotional entanglements—the author and her husband share, swap and pursue other partners—she is not entirely convincing when she asserts that she, her husband and her committed girlfriend have the “perfect” arrangement. Block mentions troubling imbalances in passing while staunchly insisting, “We have it all... he is my rock and she is my sky.” Readers are likely to be challenged and provoked by this book's insights into the surprising fluidities in fidelity and sexuality, but might find its repetitive, slightly glib delivery better suited for a magazine article than a book-length manifesto. (June)

Mills, founder of NYU's Center on Violence and Recovery, calls into question how the American legal system deals with domestic violence: mandatory arrest and prosecution, restraining orders and batterer intervention programs. This system, argues Mills, deprives women of choices and provides few options for couples who want to stop the abuse without ending the relationship. In a scrupulously researched book, Mills uses her own experience in a violent relationship and other case studies as she examines the sources of domestic violence, looks microscopically at the complex dynamics between various victims and their abusers and explores new treatments that are proving successful. This last is the book's most valuable part, both for these couples and for policy makers. Mills describes a group therapy program in Virginia and the Healing Circles program she helped develop in 2004. By treating the couple, and even whole families, rather than just the abuser, and by acknowledging that violent couples can help one another in group therapy, these programs have been shown to change the dynamics within violent families. (June)

Aside from her as-told-to autobiography with A.E. Hotchner in 1975, this is the first full-length biography devoted to Doris Mary Anne von Kappelhoff, who was rechristened Doris Day just before she began fronting for the Les Brown Band in 1940. Although Day was continually portrayed in magazines and onscreen as a contented wife and mother, Kaufman (Ridiculous!: The Theatrical Life and Times of Charles Ludlam)—who spent eight years interviewing more than 150 people to create this definitive biography—uncovers a tireless workaholic (from 1947 to 1968, she made 39 films and recorded more than 600 songs) with four failed marriages and a son (music producer Terry Melcher) who was “more of a brother or father-figure than a son to his mother.” Kaufman also uncovers that she was born in 1922, making her two years older than reference works state. Mismanaged by her third husband (their 16-year marriage was “a business arrangement” by their fifth anniversary), her career (and legacy) was severely damaged by the last seven films she made over a three-year period. This is an eye-opening, fair-minded bio of a woman who brought a lot of joy to fans but has found very little herself. 32 pages of photos. (June)

In November 1959, Quasthoff's parents were completely unprepared to welcome into the world a child born with birth defects. One of thousands of German mothers to have taken thalidomide during her pregnancy to ease morning sickness, Quasthoff's mother gave birth to a young boy who, according to the doctors, looked just like a young seal with flippers for hands and crippled feet. The doctors told his parents that young Tommy would never be able to walk, but Quasthoff's inspiring memoir is a story of steely determination and a paean to the human spirit. With lively humor and unerring honesty, Quasthoff energetically regales readers with the challenges he faced growing up as well as his many triumphs as one of the world's most famous classical singers. His parents refused to treat his disabilities as a barrier to his success and taught him to walk, supported him through boarding school, lobbied on his behalf with music teachers and applauded his success when he debuted at Lincoln Center. Discovering his love of music during his boarding school days, Quasthoff, with the help of his parents, built a career as a bass-baritone lied singer, who also sings jazz, and he continued to teach voice and to perform upwards of 40 concerts a year around the world. Quasthoff's splendid memoir is not simply about overcoming the odds but about the power of music and one man's loving tribute to his powerful instrument. (June)

Sedaris, king of the poignantly absurd, triumphs in this sixth essay collection (after 2004's Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim). There is less focus here on the Sedaris clan as a whole, though the various members make memorable and often hilarious appearances. In “The Understudy,” the Sedaris siblings band together to battle the odious babysitter Mrs. Peacock, while in “Town and Country,” Sedaris and sister Amy discuss what their father would be most offended to find on his daughter's coffee-table (hint: The Joy of Sex comes in a distant second). Leaving America behind, Sedaris also regales readers with his experiences around the globe, from sitting in a Parisian doctor's office wearing only his underwear in “In the Waiting Room” to warding off birds in the French countryside with record albums in “Aerial.” In the collection's longest essay, “The Smoking Section,” Sedaris recounts his three-month stay in Tokyo, where he successfully quits smoking and unsuccessfully attempts to learn Japanese. Sedaris records in “Buddy, Can You Spare a Tie?” his more glaring mistakes in life, but he should be satisfied with the knowledge that this latest endeavor is anything but. (June)

Steinberg, a columnist for the Chicago Sun-Times, admitted he was an alcoholic—only he'd rather be called a “drunkard,” a more colorful “slur”—only after a judge sentenced him to rehab. He'd hit his wife in an argument over his drinking; by Steinberg's initial account, before his arrest, he was living the ideal newspaperman's life—a few Jack Daniels at his regular bar after filing his popular column, a few red wines in the bar car of the commuter train to the suburbs, then a cozy evening with his loving wife and two sons. It's only after he's in rehab that he recalls all the other drinks he'd sneak when his wife or his kids weren't looking. He had no choice about going to rehab for 28 days, but couldn't see the use of going to AA meetings. An agnostic iconoclast, the higher-power language and the instant fellowship-of-drunks aspect of AA made him uncomfortable. Through his relapses and his recoveries, Steinberg developed his own relationship with AA and learned how to be a hot newspaperman without a shot glass on his desk. Steinberg's struggle to be honest with himself will touch a nerve with many readers. (June)

Future chroniclers of the period may well place the drug and hippie scene as, historically, mere decorative fringe to “the women's movement that came out of the 1960s,” which was, according to Nies, “the most successful and transformative social movement of the twentieth century.” Historian and biographer Nies (Nine Women: Portraits from the American Radical Tradition) combines her memoir of the girl she was with an account of the world in which she grew up to become a “pioneer feminist.” She delineates a milieu of limitations on women's lives unimaginable today—a time when “women were supposed to marry well, dress well, and entertain well,” and when men's clubs had “Ladies' Entrances” and Congress a “Ladies' Gallery.” Nies combines personal memoir (her family history, student days, her travels, her marriage, her jobs from summer waitress to being “one of only a handful of professional women on Capitol Hill”) with period history (the Cuban missile crisis, the Women Strike for Peace campaign against nuclear testing, the formation of NOW) and well-known people with whom she crosses paths (Madeleine Albright, Paul Wolfowitz, Dorothy Day and Gloria Steinem, to name a few). While the book lags at times, Nies's combination period history and memoir is a highly valuable first-person record of a woman who finds herself, and the movement she grew with. (June)

Although a roving international reporter used to being in the trenches, Matloff (Fragments of a Forgotten War) was so eager to make a nest with her new Dutch husband that she neglected to research the West Harlem, New York, street where she snagged a commodious four-story townhouse at a bargain price in 2000. “Needs TLC” indeed proved a euphemism for the decrepit state of the building, and the street hopping with Dominican drug dealers and their out-of-state, SUV-parking customers stood at the “epicenter” of narcotics trafficking on the eastern seaboard. Matloff relates with graceful humor how she had to negotiate gingerly among such resentful locals as Salami, a drug-addled squatter next door who enjoyed taunting her; the street's kingpin dealer Miguel, from whom she sought protection; and the entrenched, terrified black residents who coexisted mistrustfully with their poorer Dominican neighbors amid a kind of “social apartheid.” Meanwhile, she jump-started renovations on the house with a motley ethnic crew of bickering workers until she was finally joined by her husband, John, and their dog once John secured a visa. The couple's presence bolstered the street's activism, and along with shakeups in city politics, the state of siege began to lift and the street makeup changed. While her narrative occasionally becomes long-winded in her thoughts on gentrification, Matloff is a writing pro, sprightly and thorough in her characterizations. (June)

From the moment she started French lessons at her Yorkshire grammar school, Sanderson was hooked on all things French. Soon she found herself a pen pal in Lyons whom she just had to visit, and then an exchange job or two in France after graduation. Before long, she was living full-time in Paris with the French boyfriend (aka “Mr. Frog”) who'd fathered her daughter. The office job that made her French dream possible wasn't exactly riveting, but one day, when she was roaming the Internet, she discovered the world of bloggers. She created her own, christening herself “Petite Anglaise,” and gave birth to her very own “alter ego.” At first, being Petite Anglaise gave Sanderson a vehicle for commenting on the lifestyles of the French; gradually, it became a sounding board for her domestic discontents. Not only was her blog an enormous hit, she also began to enjoy the attentions of one of Petite Anglaise's online fans. Naturally—as any romance reader could predict—she ditched Mr. Frog in favor of the online lover. Sanderson's memoir is compulsively readable, especially since she's jazzed up the basic romance formula with all the issues around blogging, like the problem of Petite Anglaise being “wittier and sexier” than she is. (June)

According to author Lida, Mexico City is the archetypal city of the 21st century and a model for how cities are evolving. A sprawling immensity of more than 20 million people, many of them poor, Mexico City took shape with almost no planning and remains plagued by congestion, pollution and poor services. Yet for Lida, Mexico City provides excitement and spontaneity that has been lost in the big capital cities of the developed world. In discrete chapters, Lida covers sex, traffic, tacos, the routines of street vendors, the feared kidnappings and many other aspects of the city's culture. A longtime resident and working journalist in the city, Lida has a firsthand familiarity with its cantinas and crime, its markets and malls, and the daily life of its inhabitants, called chilangos. Lida also leavens his journalism with personal stories, such as a meeting with a tireless cab driver who eats onions for energy and his own experience of being kidnapped. Unfortunately, Lida's ambitious attempt to provide a panoramic view of the city is not served well by his prose, which rarely rises above standard-issue journalese. In the end, however, his book makes an excellent general guide to Mexico City. (June)

This is the sixth book by noted sports psychologist Rotella (Golf Is Not a Game of Perfect) focusing on the often troubled mass of gray matter between a golfer's ears. Since the rules of the game allow for only 14 clubs, the 15th referred to is a metaphor for a player's confidence. In the first 14 chapters, Rotella outlines what it takes for a golfer to develop mental strength on the course, prescribing a regimen of positive reinforcement through the following: understanding your attitude, cultivation of a confident outlook, acceptance of imperfection, forgetting poor play, positive spoken and written affirmations, visualizing success, becoming a cheerleader for yourself, and commitment to an excellent short game. The final two chapters focus on Rotella's close relationship with Irish player Padraig Harrington, his client who won the 2007 British Open. Rotella says the effort to build a confident mind, like exercise to strengthen the body, requires commitment. The book is a smooth read and easy to digest in a few sittings, but it has many familiar echoes of advice in positive thinking and sports psychology books, including Rotella's own, that have gone down green fairways before. (June)

According to London Times reporter Grove (The Compleat Woman), the creator of the loud and lovable fictional barrister Rumpole and the screenwriter for the television adaptation of Brideshead Revisited is himself a flamboyant barrister, prolific writer and compulsive womanizer. John Mortimer's complex personal life includes expulsion from Oxford for suspected homosexuality; courtship of his first wife, Penelope, when she was married and impregnating his second wife while still married to Penelope. His father, Clifford, a brilliant lawyer who eventually went blind, was the major influence on Mortimer's life, and he dramatized him repeatedly, most notably as Rumpole and in his play A Voyage Round My Father. An indefatigable barrister, Mortimer handled landmark obscenity cases as a Queen's Counsel. His friends and collaborators include Stoppard, Pinter and Olivier, and he rolled along in his wheelchair at Prince Charles's wedding to Camilla. Although lively, intelligent and remarkably frank for an authorized biography, Grove's latest will likely not create much of a stir in America, where Mortimer isn't a household name. Photos not seen by PW. (June 2)

Although Walters writes, “It was not in my nature to be courageous, to be the first,” her compulsively readable memoir proves otherwise. No one lasts on TV for more than 45 years without the ability to make viewers feel comfortable, and Walters's amiable persona perfectly translates to the page. She gives us an entertaining panorama of a full life lived and recounted with humor and bracing honesty. Walters is surprisingly candid: about her older sister's retardation, her father's suicide attempt, her midlife affairs (including ones with John Warner—before and after his marriage to Elizabeth Taylor—and a very married Edward Brooke, the first African-American elected to the U.S. Senate since Reconstruction), her daughter's troubled teen years and her acrimonious relationships with coanchors Frank McGee and Harry Reasoner. She vividly recounts her decision to leave NBC's Today Show after 14 years to become the first female nightly news coanchor, and tells of the firestorm of criticism she endured for accepting that pioneering position and its million-dollar salary. Alternating between tales of her personal struggles, professional achievements and insider anecdotes about the celebrities and world leaders she's interviewed, this mammoth memoir's energy never flags. 32 pages of photos. (One-day laydown May 6)

Despite the subtitle of this book, which some general readers may find alarming, Ruprecht's argument is well reasoned and reflects concerns not new to scholars and Bible translators. The author, who teaches religious studies at Georgia State University, places in juxtaposition the gospels of Mark and John, suggesting that John was written not to supplement Mark's book, but rather to replace it and create a more strident, less human portrait of Jesus. Ruprecht dissects the two gospels and shows how the Johannine influence has prevailed in Christian history, in particular with reformers like Martin Luther. He also explores how John's gospel may have fed into the centuries-old plague of anti-Semitism in the church and beyond. In contrast to the self-assured Jesus described in John, Mark's Jesus is conflicted and ambiguous, working miracles but commanding those he healed not to tell anyone. And where (in Ruprecht's view) Mark sees Jesus' suffering as without purpose, in John suffering was itself the purpose. Although Ruprecht's ideas may surprise and discomfit nonspecialists, they deserve a read and are accessibly presented. (Aug. 8)

In this memoir of her journey from punk-partying atheist teenager to rabbi-in-training (yarmulke and all), Ruttenberg chronicles the awakening and intensification of religious life. The book's breezy style, mixing personal anecdotes with reflection, is balanced by thoughtful narrative about what religion is and what it demands of its adherents. The author weaves in her religious studies training gently, applying occasional references to classical theologians (Kierkegaard and Maimonides), medieval mystics (Teresa of Ávila), and modern thinkers (Thomas Merton and Elliot Dorff) as they illuminate a particular insight or experience. In the context of Ruttenberg's enthusiasm for ideas and practice, readers can forgive when instructive reflections hint of sermonizing. Although the details of Ruttenberg's experience—including wild parties during California's dot-com boom, a lonely Shabbat in Tel Aviv and praying in tefillin—may be unique, her description of her growing awareness of the power of ritual, the support of community, and religion as relationship will resonate with all sorts of spiritual seekers. (Aug.)

Ali-Karamali, a lawyer and scholar of Islamic law, confronts the myriad stereotypes and falsehoods about Islam and Muslims in her first book. Although the chapters can feel disjointed, she tackles timely topics, such as misogynistic attitudes among Muslims (which she says are the result of culture and not theology) and violence; she notes that less than 1% of the Qur'an references fighting. Ali-Karamali insists that the Qur'an, where appearing controversial, must be read in context or in light of the variety of possible Arabic translations. She is not shy about criticizing Muslims for such practices as gender-segregated prayers, stoning for postmarital adultery, coercive pressure to wear hijab, and the building and funding of Wahhabi mosques by the wealthy Saudi Arabian regime. The Western media worsens the situation by failing to cover stories where Muslims have shown progressive attitudes, such as the wholesale condemnation of the 9/11 attacks by Muslims or legal reform in Islamic nations to improve the plight of women. Though this survey is understandable and useful, the author's determination to cover every topic makes it feel rushed. (Aug.)

Lieutenant General Boykin's illustrious military career takes center stage in this personal account of religious faith in the proverbial foxhole. He was thrust into several harrowing encounters, such as the events portrayed in the film Black Hawk Down, the Iranian hostage crisis and the current war on terror. Boykin delivers frontline perspectives on the military missions in which he engaged, and the accounts are charged with excitement. Some may find his writing a bit polarizing; he is not subtle regarding his dislike for Democratic political figures like Jimmy Carter and John Kerry. Others will be inspired by how he faced death on a number of occasions and held tightly to his faith as a buoy through tumultuous and dark times. Toward the end of his career, Boykin began giving public talks, inspiring people to faith in God and to the ideals of the United States. While Boykin is to be commended for his patriotism, bravery and conviction, the book never successfully explains how his military career coexisted with some of the more pacifist tenets of Christianity. (July 29)

Chapman follows up his five million-copy bestseller The Five Love Languages with this wise, heartfelt guide to cultivating seven traits that lead to loving relationships. Whereas his work on love languages explored the primary ways people give and receive love, this book explores the nitty-gritty of an entire “attitude of love,” with chapters on kindness, patience, forgiveness, humility, courtesy, generosity and honesty. Each chapter includes quizzes, questions for reflection and ideas for applying that chapter's teachings. All self-help books run the risk of cliché, but Chapman manages to make tried-and-true material feel fresh through carefully chosen examples from his pastoral counseling practice and his own life. The chapter on forgiveness is especially powerful, as Chapman advocates forgiveness as a daily habit, not an occasional bequest. Although Christian faith provides the scaffolding for his program and a concluding chapter makes the need for God's help explicit, Chapman's judicious counsel can be implemented by people of many religious traditions. This book is head and shoulders above the bulk of self-help literature precisely because it is not about “self” so much as helping others. (July 15)

Seeing is believing—literally, for Duplantis, a rocker turned Christian preacher who is master of a multimedia ministry empire. Duplantis wants readers to “start using the mind of Christ” to create a mental map filled with “determined thoughts” that will help them first envision and then fulfill their idea of success. If readers can imagine it, it can happen. Nothing is impossible for Duplantis, who frequently turns to the Bible for advice and says that God is watching constantly (Duplantis's God keeps report cards on everyone). Though at times Duplantis offends, especially when discussing Muslims, he broad-mindedly claims that all people can become visionaries, “even nonbelievers.” This claim falls apart as the book moves forward, however, since Duplantis's accounts of personal changes as well as his prose are all thoroughly Christian. The author's heavy use of exclamation points makes the pacing frenetic as he bellows at readers to shepherd their dreams into reality. While some Christians may be inspired by this aggressive approach to prosperity theology, others will prefer a softer sell. (July 8)

According to Cepero, director of spiritual formation at North Park Theological Seminary, we come to know God more deeply by paying attention to our own reality, and in doing so, learn to “tune our hearts to hear God's transforming Word for us.” In this lively, encouraging and pastoral book, Cepero shows readers how to journal in a way that moves past simple recitation of events to writing that reveals God at work in a life. Brief chapters recommend areas to explore, including one's past and present story, suffering, hopes for the future, noticing God in daily life, and addressing the past. Cepero teaches strategies and techniques throughout with examples from journals and her own experiences. She also provides suggested exercises to help writers find focus, particularly beginners or those who feel stuck with their writing. An especially insightful chapter explores how physical movement or exercise frees the mind and spirit to write. Finally, Cepero suggests ways to cope with common barriers to journaling, including our inner critics and censors. An appendix includes helpful guidelines for group journaling. (July)

This is a lovely book for advanced students of Buddhism. It won't do much for beginners, however, because it's simply too interior. Those who haven't had exposure to the strange quarries that the mind in meditation may chase may well find Zen teacher Bayda opaque. He has deep insights into the nature of mind that demonstrate his experienced understanding and diligent practice of Zen Buddhism. The book is certainly well organized; the author, like so many American Buddhists who emphasize meditation practice, has a keenly analytical mind. But it takes patience to follow his somewhat bare exposition. More stories and examples would help, although he does draw on his own life to illustrate difficulties. A more specific title would also signal more of the author's unique insights. The promise of greater joy, equanimity, clarity and compassion is worth sitting around for, however much patience it requires to read Bayda's book. That requirement is not a drawback; patience is a virtue in any religion, and a good flashlight for the Zen path. (July)

Anyone whose imagination has been captured by monastic life will find this collection of personal stories by 10 men and women living under the Rule of Benedict absorbing as well as enlightening. Inspired by a similar anthology published in 1982 as A Touch of God, this volume retains the same format of simple narratives, freshened by new stories from editor Johns and others who represent the variety of monastic expression today. The narrators range from 26-year-old Joanna Gilbert, who is discerning a monastic vocation while living in a community of young laypeople basing their lives on Benedict's Rule, to Monica Mead, who made her profession in 2002 at 74 after raising a family. Each story shatters stereotypes by offering a keenly transparent view of life inside both monk and monastery. Whether discussing the shock of shedding the trappings of status and independence or the adjustment required for growing into a life of silence, each author provides an intimate and informative look at the path to monasticism and its continuing journey. (July)

Arguing that “dreaming is a primal wellspring of religious experience,” dream researcher Bulkeley delves into original sacred texts and stories to trace the ways dreams have been regarded, interpreted and acted upon across human history. He defines his terms carefully, then draws out both common themes and cultural differences in religious traditions originating in Africa, Oceania and the Americas as well as from the Fertile Crescent, South Asia, China and the Mediterranean. Providing ample evidence that doubt about the reliability of dream information was common in ancient times, Bulkeley examines such intriguing phenomena as prophetic and prototypical dreams, paradoxical dream interpretation and dream incubation techniques. Each chapter starts with a provocative idea related to the religious tradition to be discussed and ends with a helpful summary of key themes. The scope of Bulkeley's knowledge is impressive, as is his skill at synthesizing ideas from a variety of source material. The author makes a persuasive case that “[t]he study of dreams is... a necessary source of insight for our knowledge of what it means to be human.” (July)

Pantheism “is the belief that the universe... is an interconnected whole that we can rightly consider sacred.” A Quaker who has studied many philosophies and religions (she was once kicked out of an Indian ashram), Russell has lived for nearly three decades in southwestern New Mexico, writing (Hunger; An Obsession with Butterflies), teaching, banding birds, searching for meaning and hoping to see a sandhill crane dance. A “scientific pantheist,” she claims not to be “built for mysticism,” though her description of “walking through the Mind and Body of God” might prove otherwise. The uniqueness of this book, however, lies less in its lyrical passages—which sometimes evoke the early Annie Dillard—than in its concise and readable summaries of pantheistic thought, especially that of Marcus Aurelius, Giordano Bruno, Baruch Spinoza and Walt Whitman. Russell's faith is all-embracing but unsentimental. “Pantheism is weak on suffering,” she admits, but “what is the alternative? We are braided into pain and joy, darkness and light. We are braided into nature, reflecting the sky.” (July)

Russ, longtime teacher and now director of Gordon College's Center for Christian Studies, probes the humanity of Jesus Christ in this revealing, disturbing yet ultimately freeing book. “We can so focus on the realities of our Lord's divinity that we minimize or ignore the realities of his humanity,” he explains. Russ is brutally honest when he addresses our neediness exhibited in Jesus as a “manger wetter,” who as an adult caused tension between himself and his mother and routinely questioned authority. Especially freeing is Russ's understanding that Jesus failed many times and disappointed others, yet remained sinless. Though some equate failure with sin, Russ says we can “fail gracefully” as Jesus did. Russ addresses timely topics such as Jesus'—and our—need for friends, Jesus as a sexual being and Jesus' anger, and also offers chapters related to doubt and dying well. A few readers may take offense at Russ's openness about Jesus' humanity, yet many will find solace and joy in realizing that the pulpit talk about Jesus becoming human has real meaning for life. (July)

The distinctly elegiac tone of this volume of reminiscences, poetry and fiction is established in the introduction, where the author confesses that while he can still produce the component parts, crafting a book is, at least at the moment, beyond him. But the octogenarian Buechner, a Presbyterian minister and author of more than 30 nonfiction and fictional works, is still a masterful writer, whose often whimsical descriptions of personalities and places do not mask his inexorable, sometimes self-deprecating candor and elegant restraint. Although the topics of his character sketches are as diverse as the poet Maya Angelou and the professors at the boarding school he attended, it is his family whose ghosts throng the pages of this volume. In these small prose gems Buechner brings his relatives to vivid life: the grandfather who made and lost a fortune, the grandmother who held court at Park Avenue and, always, the father whose suicide marks Buechner's work like a still-open wound. Buechner fans, whose numbers are legion, will find many small pleasures, leaves still fresh and green among the relics. (July)

Starting May 18, one of the greatest archeological finds in China—the ancient terra cotta army of the first Chinese emperor—begins a two-year U.S. tour. Two new books relate the history of the emperor and this “buried army.”

In 246 B.C., at age 13, Zheng, also known as Qin, ascended to his late father's throne. Proclaiming himself the first emperor, Qin ruled for 36 years, expanding his empire through military force and unifying China with a well-ordered set of legal codes. In this first-rate historical and biographical sketch, Wood, head of the British Library's Chinese Department, debunks some of the legends of megalomania and cruelty that have grown up around Qin (for instance, that he buried alive scholars who disagreed with him). Using the 1974 discovery of an army of more than 6,000 terra-cotta soldiers buried in Qin's tomb, Wood points out the emperor's obsession with immortality, his fear of death and his desire to maintain his rule in the afterlife. Wood admits there's little written evidence about Qin; yet her close reading of these sources offers fresh insight into a little-known figure and his kingdom, far outpacing John Man's The Terra Cotta Army (see below). 36 b&w illus., 1 map. (June)

In 1974, two farmers digging a well stumbled on part of the tomb of China's first emperor, Qin. Often called the Eighth Wonder of the World, the tomb contained an army of over 6,000 terra-cotta figures, some kneeling, others standing and many carrying weapons. In a plodding and erratic book, historian Man (Genghis Khan) recounts the tomb's discovery and what it reveals about Qin's life. In an attempt to understand the techniques and materials used in the statues, Man visits reproduction factories and talks with artists. Repeating uncritically the same legends that Frances Wood dispels in China's First Emperor, Man fails to provide real depth or to offer any new insights. (May)

Forget the Westminster Dog Show—these real canine champions are spearheading humanitarian missions.

Former marine officer Kopelman's sequel to From Baghdad, with Love—his bestselling account of a war mongrel named Lava—is a bittersweet and hopeful account of the effects of posttraumatic stress disorder. Kopelman's First Battalion, Third Marines, found Lava among the debris of war-torn Fallujah in November 2004 and adopted the mongrel despite a Department of Defense prohibition against pets. Recognizing Lava's therapeutic value—“the pure joy and escape he provided”—Kopelman not only ignored the regulations but also promised his marines that he would bring Lava home, which, against all odds, he did. Both man and dog had considerable difficulty in adjusting to life after war; Kopelman experienced “frequent anger and frustration”—especially toward civilians who seemed “so self-absorbed”—and Lava was so aggressively overprotective, he required antidepressant medication. Inspired by Lava's example—and worried about the effect of his behavior on his new family—the author finally sought therapy and encourages other troubled vets to get the treatment they need. Kopelman's nonjudgmental approach and his self-deprecating, tongue-in-cheek humor make this survivor's account as engaging as it is powerful. (July)

It's hard to think of anything cuter than a pet store puppy or anything more horrifying than the places from which most originate. Thanks to Kohl and her rescued poodle, Baby, the movement to eradicate puppy mills now has a face—plus three legs and a wagging tail. Kohl exposes an industry profiting off of “legalized abuse,” where dogs are forcibly bred each heat cycle and sequestered in cages so small that some never learn to walk. Leavening the grim accounts are original essays from contributors such as Gloria Steinem and Alice Walker and advice on how ordinary citizens can help by boycotting pet stores and Internet suppliers in favor of adopting animals from shelters and reputable breeders. Pictures of Baby with her famous fans and advocates—Barack Obama, Steven Tyler, Bill Maher, the New York Mets—provide the book with some lighter moments. While the passages “written” by Baby are slightly cloying, Kohl's accounts of how dogs suffer at the hands of puppy mill breeders (Baby's vocal cords were slashed to keep her from barking) will doubtlessly rally new crusaders to this cause. (June 3)